Kankuro's Adventure Called Life
by Chouko-chan
Summary: Kankuro has a severe fever. Will he recover from it in time to take a mission to Konoha with his siblings? and with rogue ninjas on the loose will they even make it to Konoha in one piece? In the Leaf Village it appears that Kankuro is feeling the beginnings of young love. KankuroXTenten and some subtle ShikamaruXTemari no spoilers
1. Fever

Kankuro woke to the feeling of being drenched in sweat. He slowly opened his eyes noticing how heavy all of his limbs felt. He wiped his arm across his forehead and sighed. He had felt discreet symptoms for days, but had blown them off telling himself that he never got sick, so why should he start now? He let the back of his hand rest against his hot forehead. Putting up with the heat of the desert was one thing, he had done that for his entire life, but having to deal with a fever as well was just ridiculous. Nonetheless he still had a job to do today. He sat up on the edge of his bed and as he did he became very dizzy making it difficult to navigate around his room. He determinedly made his way to the wall and leaned on it for support as he headed to the bathroom. When he reached the bathroom he gripped the sink to steady himself, then began splashing cold water on his face. It felt good at first, but as the water dripped down his face it began to heat up and felt like sweat as well. He grabbed the towel hanging next to the sink and dried his face so that he could apply his regular face paint. His regular style of Kabuki paint was what he was going for, but is hands we shaking so much that he ended up with a zigzag across his face. He looked up into the mirror and what he saw there resembled a young child's abstract art project. He felt annoyed with how the paint had turned out, but he knew that he did not have time to fix it now or he would be late for sure. He started back into his room fighting to keep his balance as his head throbbed and continued to make the room spin. He just needed to put a shirt on and be on his way, but with the fever taking its toll on him this was much more difficult than it should have been. He lurched from side to side keeping one had on the wall as long he could to help him maintain balance. All his effort seemed for naught as he stepped away from the wall, lost his balance, landed on his face, and passed out on the floor.

Kankuro came to hearing the sound of someone calling his name from what seemed like a great distance. It was definitely a voice that he knew well, but at the moment he couldn't quite place it. He turned his head to the side, squinted his eyes open, and saw the fuzzy features of a blonde girl in dark clothes kneeling next to him. Temari, he decided after staring for a while with his eyes refusing to focus. He closed his eyes again and pressed his cheek onto the cool stone floor. It felt good on his feverish face. The heat of his fever momentarily nullified by the cool stone, Kankuro felt like he might fall asleep. Just as his consciousness was slipping away he felt someone tugging on his arm. Undoubtedly Tamari was trying to help him to his feet, but in truth he didn't mind continuing to lie on the floor. His limbs felt heavier than they had when he woke up this morning, so getting up didn't seem like an option to him, at least not on his own. There was also less light to hurt his head down here.

He heard Temari speak again as she attempted to pull him to his feet. She seemed to be saying, "Come on, help me out here, Kankuro." She sounded annoyed. Kankuro smiled to himself, it was just like Temari to be angry at him for being sick. Temari did have quite a temper, so he figured that he shouldn't try Temari's patience while he was too weak to defend himself. With this in mind he obediently attempted to push himself up off the floor. Even with Temari helping he was panting by the time he had managed to get onto his hands and knees, but from there it was easier for Temari to help him. She ducked under one of his arms so that it was around her shoulders and held on to this arm so that he wouldn't slip, then wrapped her other arm around his torso. Kankuro felt his body rising from the ground, but at this point he was so disoriented that he wasn't sure whether he was standing by himself, or if Temari was supporting him. Suddenly he felt himself being pushed backward so that he fell onto his bed. He lay there dazed as he felt Temari grab his ankles and throw his legs onto the bed with the rest of him. He heard the curtains move and the light that had been streaming into the room died out. He heard Temari cross the room to the door, command him to,"Stay here and get some rest," and leave closing the door behind her.

Following Temari's instructions was not difficult. Kankuro didn't think he had the strength to get up and run off right now even if he really wanted to. He knew that at least the running was completely out of the question seeing as his equilibrium was obviously off right now. Then a thought hit him that made him panic. He remembered that he had something important that he was supposed to do today, but he couldn't recall what it was or why it was so important. He lay in his dark room racking his brain trying to remember what had been so important. He knew he didn't have a wall guard duty today nor was he supposed to be guarding Gaara. He finally decided that he would just ask Temari when she came back as she was bound to do at some point. He knew that she would not just leave him in this state because he knew that deep down the only reason she got angry at him when he was in trouble was because it made her worry about him. _Good old Temari_, he thought to himself smiling_, she's as caring on the inside as she is wrathful on the outside._ With this thought he drifted off to sleep.

He woke several hours later when someone lightly slapped the side of his face.

"Eww! You're covered in sweat!" exclaimed Temari's voice as Kankuro opened his eyes to see her wiping the back of her hand on her skirt with a look of disgust on her face.

"Serves you right for slapping a man on the brink of death," Kankuro retorted smirking.

"I cover for you today and even bring you lunch," she replied angrily holding up a tray in her other hand, "and this is all the thanks I get? Sweat and sarcasm?!"

Kankuro studied her for a minute. She seemed angry, which truth be told was kind of normal, but there seemed to be something off about it, as if it were all an act. Kankuro sat up, pushing himself up with some difficulty so that his back rested against the wall behind him. "I don't remember much from today," he confessed staring into his lap, "It's all kind of blurry after I collapsed this morning, but I remember there was something important I was supposed to do today, do you know what that was?"

"You were supposed to have a meeting with Gaara and Baki today," Temari explained sitting down on the end of his bed and handing him the tray with his lunch on it. "It was some stuff about negotiations with the Leaf, and like I said I covered for you," she finished looking down at her lap.

Kankuro studied her quizzically as he accepted the tray, there still seemed to be something off about her. Temari stared at him as though she were trying to find the words to tell him something that she wasn't sure how to say. Finally she reached into her pocket and handed him a napkin saying, "Wipe all that sweat off your face, it's grossing me out."

Kankuro took the napkin, but continued to stare at Temari. "Is everything ok?" he asked hesitantly.

"Wipe your face!" Temari insisted.

Kankuro could see that the conversation was going nowhere, so he wiped the sweat and remaining paint off of his face with the napkin. "There," he said looking at Temari, "Now will you tell me what's eating you?"

"It's none of your business," Temari said defensively.

"Then I'll make it my business," Kankuro replied balling up the sweaty napkin and launching it at Temari. She swatted it away before it hit her in the face and looked up at Kankuro with a half smile. A silence followed during which Temari seemed to be deciding whether or not she wanted to confide in him.

"Look, you're my sister, so I just wanna, ya know…be there for you…if something is bothering you," Kankuro explained looking down embarrassedly.

"Awww, look who's developing a sensitive side," Temari cooed pinching her brother's cheek.

"Whatever," Kankuro snapped looking away from her, "If you don't wanna tell me that's fine. It's your business." With that he began eating his food so he would have an excuse to keep looking down. He was still embarrassed from being called 'sensitive'.

"Well I guess it would help to discuss it with someone," Temari replied suddenly serious again, "and I can trust my little brother, right?"

Kankuro's mouth was full of food, so he just looked at Temari and nodded.

"Well," she began taking off one of her gloves and wringing it in her hands, " it's just that Shikamaru's sensei, Asuma, was killed recently…and he seemed really upset about it."

"Why does that bother _you_?" Kankuro asked, confused. "I mean, I know we're allies with the Leaf Village now, but this doesn't seem like something that would normally upset you. You didn't even know the guy, right? So why are you upset?," he inquired.

"Because Shikamaru is … my friend," she retorted angrily at first, but seemed to carefully consider the last words before finishing. She sighed before continuing, "Shikamaru is my friend and…I don't know…it just makes me feel kinda depressed to see him so sad."

A smile spread across Kankuro's face. Talking about feelings had never been his forte, in fact he avoided the subject as often as he could, but Temari was being so obvious that it was hard not to see that she cared for Shikamaru as more than a friend. "Seems like someone got bitten by the love bug," Kankuro teased.

"Shut up!" Temari shouted blushing. "Ya know what, I never should have said anything," she ranted, "I knew you wouldn't take this seriously." She stood up and walked toward the door.

"Temari!" Kankuro called after her, "You know I wanna help you feel better, but I just don't know what to say to something like that."

"Yeah," Temari replied humorlessly looking back from the doorway, "I know." She then turned and walked out the door slamming it behind her.

Kankuro felt a little bad about what had happened because Temari looked legitimately upset, but at the same time he was her brother and he felt that his obligation to tease her at every possible moment came first. He also took comfort in the thought that if the roles were reversed she would definitely tease him the same way he had teased her. With that he banished the thought from his mind and finished eating his food.

It took Kankuro about 2 days to make a full recovery. Temari hadn't felt that it was necessary to bring any medical ninjas to examine him because it was just an ordinary fever and she figured that with some rest he would be better in no time. About the time that he was feeling fully recovered Kankuro and Temari were summoned to Gaara's office.

"The three of us are going on a mission," Gaara informed his siblings as they entered and stood in front of his desk. "Some diplomats that I sent to the Leaf Village were barely able to return yesterday and said that they had been ambushed on their way to the village. Now I would like to personally go to discuss things with the Hokage and I would like you two to accompany me."

"Any idea who they were ambushed by?" asked Temari.

"We believe they are shinobi from the Sound Village," replied Gaara.

"Then this should be a cinch with the three of us having faced Sound ninjas before," Kankuro stated confidently, " that two headed Sound ninja I fought last time never saw the Black Ant coming and it seemed like you guys took out the others pretty easily too."

"We still need to be cautious," Temari chided, "They could be different and more experienced than the ones we fought before."

Kankuro rolled his eyes. He hated it when she went into mother mode on them.

Gaara nodded. "We leave tomorrow at first light," he finished turning around to look out the window. Kankuro and Temari took this to mean that they were dismissed and left the office.


	2. Into the Forest

The next morning the three Sand ninjas began their trip to Konoha at first light just as Gaara had said they would. Gaara was in front and lead at a quick pace knowing that his siblings could handle it. The three shinobi made it across the desert and into the forest by noon and decided to take a short break. As they stood at the mouth of the forest catching their breath Kankuro thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He whipped around and stared into the forest, watching for even the slightest movement. The edgy puppet master watched for several minutes waiting for something to happen and just as he was about to turn away he saw some subtle movement in the tall grass several yards away. He readied a kunai and was ready to strike when a squirrel ran out of the long grass and scurried up a nearby tree, disappearing into its foliage. Kankuro sighed and turned back to his siblings. He hated being so on edge, but the three of them had to keep their guard up because they were fairly certain that they would be attacked once they entered the forest. Knowing this ahead of time was probably making the others hyperaware as well he thought to himself.

Soon it was time for the three siblings to start traveling again. They sped through the forest as quickly and silently as shadows, trying their best to stay undetected. Kankuro followed at the tail of their group remaining vigilant to ensure that they remained unseen. As they hurried through the forest every now and then he could have sworn that he saw something out of the corner of his eye, just for a second. He began to think that they were being followed and just when he was about to say something Gaara had them stop. The Kazekage quietly motioned for them to stay silent while he sent his sand in all directions. _Gaara must have noticed that we were being followed too_, thought Kankuro. _It makes sense_, he admitted to himself scanning their surroundings, _the enemy must have been waiting for us to exit the desert so they could follow us, then pursued us until we got into a part of the forest that we were not familiar with before launching their attack. This would give the enemy the advantage as they presumably know the forest better than we do._ Kankuro was beginning to wonder if he should summon Crow when Gaara suddenly stretched out his arm in front of him and quickly made a loose fist. Kankuro watched as a bundle of sand floated into view stopping several feet in front of Gaara. The sand at the top of the bundle began to crumble and a person's head emerged. The trapped shinobi wore a headband from the Hidden Sound Village which seemed to be all the confirmation Gaara needed to know that they had been followed and were probably going to be ambushed soon.

"Where are your comrades?" Gaara questioned in a calm yet menacing way, beginning his interrogation. When the stranger gave no sign that he intended to answer the question Gaara squeezed the sand around him a little tighter hoping that the discomfort this caused would encourage their foe to answer, however as he did this an unforeseen consequence resulted when the sound ninja suddenly popped. Air started rushing out of the ninja's head like a massive balloon and Gaara was left with a deflated blob trapped in his sand coffin. The red haired shinobi released the decoy and returned the sand to his gourd.

"Let's hurry," he told his siblings before speeding off into the forest. Temari and Kankuro quickly followed Gaara's lead and picked up the pace. Knowing that they were already being followed they gave up some of their discreetness in favor of picking up speed. Attack seemed inevitable, but if there was even a slight chance the three of them could make it to Konoha without incident they would take it.

After being on the move for several hours Kankuro noticed someone drop from the tree cover above and begin to follow them in plain sight.

"We've got a Sound on our tail trying to close in on us!" he called to Temari and Gaara. These words were barely out of his mouth when Temari came to an abrupt halt in front of him. The startled puppet wielder also stopped as promptly as he could and almost lost his footing in the process. He quickly recovered his balance and turned to face the stranger who had been following them. The ninja behind them stopped as well and Kankuro noticed for the first time that it was a young woman with long dark hair and a large frame drum strapped across her back.

"What's the situation?" Kankuro inquired still at a loss to know why Temari and presumably Gaara had stopped.

"We're surrounded," Temari informed him bitterly.

Kankuro looked back at his siblings just in time to see Gaara leap back onto the thick branch Temari was standing on while still facing the enemies in front of him. Kankuro followed suit and also jumped onto the branch while still facing the woman behind them so that he was back to back with his siblings. He quickly took two scrolls off of his back and summoned Crow and Black Ant. He wasn't sure if Salamander would be much use if the battle was going to be up in the trees.

All three siblings took defensive positions, prepared to react to anything that the enemy might decide to throw at them.

"Why are you attacking us?" Gaara asked no one in particular, "We have no quarrel with the Hidden Sound Village."

"But the Leaf Village is our enemy and an alliance with the Sand Village would only make them stronger," replied someone who Kankuro could not see.

"We are already allies with the Leaf Village," Gaara stated authoritatively.

"Then there's all the more reason for you to die!" shouted the woman facing Kankuro. She then hastily took the drum from her back. Holding the drum in one hand and a large drum stick in the other she swung both with great force bringing the two together in front of her.

As soon as Kankuro heard the resulting sound of the drum he jumped into the foliage above. He was not sure what she was trying to do with the drum, but he was not going to make himself an easy target. The puppeteer looked around trying to find a good place to hide while he used his marionettes. He spotted a dark place in the tree cover above and a little behind the woman with the big drum and quietly made his way there. When he was sure that he was well hidden he looked back at the tree limb where the three of them had been standing moments before and was unsurprised to find that Temari was nowhere to be seen, but what he did see was a big ball of sand surrounding his little brother hovering in midair. _It's unusual for Gaara to start a fight this way_, thought Kankuro. Just as this thought crossed his mind he began to hear a muffled screaming coming from inside the ball of sand. For a moment Kankuro gazed in horror and amazement, his mouth slightly agape. He had not heard his brother scream like this since Shukaku had possessed him in the Leaf Village years ago. _That drum must initiate some kind of genjutsu,_ decided Kankuro looking down at the woman with the drum, _and she must have been targeting Gaara because Temari and I also heard the sound of the drum, but we were unaffected_. If that was the case the best way he could help his brother now would be to take out the kunoichi controlling the genjutsu. With any luck he would be able to end the genjutsu quickly thought Kankuro as he hid Black Ant on the side of the tree trunk opposite the woman so it was out of view. He then proceeded to hide Crow in the foliage on the other side of her and launch poised senbons at her from the puppet's mouth. She heard them coming and jumped out of the way moments before they would have impaled her chest.

"Ha! You'll have to do better than that!" she shouted triumphantly with her eyes locked on Crow who was now in plain sight. She threw a handful of shuriken at Crow before landing next to the tree trunk. Kankuro smiled wickedly as he sprung his trap. Black Ant jumped out of hiding and started opening the compartment in his stomach as he raced toward the enemy kunoichi. At the same time Kankuro used Crow to distract her by advancing on her from the other side. The agile woman seemed to sense the hidden danger, however, and caused Kankuro to curse inwardly as she dodged both puppets by jumping back onto a different tree branch. The irritated puppet master quickly hid Black Ant again still hoping that he would be able to catch her off guard.

"Now it's my turn!" the woman declared gripping the frame of her large drum with both hands and holding it straight out in front of her so it looked as if she had been eclipsed by the moon. She stared intensely at the back of the drum, probably transferring chakra into the weapon, and after muttering something unintelligible she released the drum which began spinning in front of her seemingly supported by nothing. _This looks like a wind attack_, thought Kankuro as the drum spun faster and faster generating what looked like a mini cyclone. When the funnel of the cyclone had fully formed the drum abruptly stopped spinning releasing the cyclone.

"Thousand Wind Blades!" the woman yelled as the cyclone split into thousands of smaller semi circles and sprayed in every direction. _She's probably trying to flush me out_, thought Kankuro as he quietly moved to a more suitable hiding place to continue the fight. As soon as the volley of blades stopped he quickly attacked with Crow who launched several kunai knives out of his palms as he flew foreword rattling eerily. Kankuro's intention was to destroy the drum and he smiled as the kunai hit their mark in the center of the instrument's taut leather.

"That won't help you," the kunoichi said rolling her eyes, " I-" but she was cut off as the paper bombs attached to the kunai knives detonated. She was blown backwards off the tree limb which provided the perfect opportunity for Black Ant to reappear and capture her in his middle as the drum fell to the ground burning. Even though the weapon used to cause the genjutsu had been destroyed Kankuro could still hear the subdued screaming that told him his brother was still suffering its effects. Noting that the genjutsu apparently continued until the ninja casting it was stopped Kankuro wasted no time in finishing off the woman inside of Black Ant. As soon as he released her lifeless body from his puppet the muffled screaming stopped. Kankuro looked over at Gaara to see if he was alright, but all he saw was streams of sand running off of the ball of sand as it started to fall apart. Gaara was not visible until it was almost completely gone and when Kankuro could finally see his brother it was obvious that he was not alright. The red head appeared to be unconscious lying in the center of a crumbling sand platform. He started to make his way toward Gaara, but the rest of the sand crumbled away before he got there and his brother's limp body began to fall toward the ground. Kankuro sent Black Ant after Gaara as fast as he could and managed to catch him before he was injured further. The older brother sighed in relief as he locked Gaara into the puppet knowing that he would be safe there. He guided the puppet onto the branch beside him and set it down there as he wondered what he was going to do about the three remaining Sound ninjas. Just then Temari leapt out of nowhere onto the tree branch in front of him. She quickly bit her thumb and smeared the blood across her fan as she performed a summoning jutsu.

"Get a head start with Gaara," she called, "I can handle the rest." With that the sand kunoichi finished her jutsu and released her wrath on the remaining enemies. That was all Kankuro needed to see to know that she had everything under control and hurried off into the forest with his puppets, carrying Gaara out of harm's way. After he was a good distance away from where the fight had taken place he stopped to let Gaara out of Black Ant and resealed the puppets into their scrolls. The puppet master then lifted his brother onto his back along with the scrolls and kept going until he was back on the path that Gaara had intended to take to get to the Leaf Village. Once he was back on the path he decided to take a short break and allow Temari to catch up. He was sure it wouldn't take her long, after all he didn't know anyone in Suna who had more endurance than his sister did.

While he was waiting Kankuro propped Gaara up against a tree trunk. He sat down opposite Gaara and frowned at the sorry state that his brother was in. He wished that there was something he could do to help his unconscious sibling, but Kankuro was no medical ninja. As he stared worriedly at his brother he noticed that Gaara appeared to be physically unharmed. _Then that was definitely some nasty genjutsu, _Kankuro concluded. He wondered how long Gaara had thought that he was trapped in the illusion. In the real world his fight with the sound kunoichi had lasted mere minutes, but to Gaara it could have seemed like hours, or days even. Days stuck in some messed up illusion… Kankuro shuddered at the thought and began to wish that Temari would hurry up so they could get Gaara to the Leaf Village where Tsunade could help him. Not long after this thought crossed his mind Temari appeared before him panting heavily. The exhausted girl leaned on her folded up fan as she tried to catcher her breath.

"How's…Gaara?" she asked breathlessly.

"He doesn't seem to be physically hurt," Kankuro answered standing up, "but that genjutsu the ninja with the big drum used sounded pretty horrible."

Temari nodded apparently satisfied with that answer. "We should get him…to the Leaf…as quickly as possible," she said standing up strait and strapping her fan on her back.

" You should rest for a minute," Kankuro suggested seeing how worn out she looked. Temari shook her head and waved the idea away as if she were swatting a fly.

"We don't exactly know…what's wrong with Gaara…so if we wait he could get worse...We should …go right now," she insisted still slightly out of breath and doing her best to hide her fatigue.

"We'll be able to go faster if you rest a little," Kankuro stated calmly sitting back down in his previous position.

"Fine!" Temari spat huffily sitting down. After they rested for a little while and Temari had caught her breath they decided to get going again. They had both gotten a little more anxious about Gaara's condition and as Kankuro raced toward the Leaf with his brother on his back he had to assure himself again and again that Tsunade could definitely fix whatever was wrong with Gaara.

The sand siblings still had a quite a way to go to get to the Leaf Village, in fact normally it would take them 2 more days to get there, but neither Kankuro nor Temari wanted to stop for the night. They devised a plan where they would switch who was carrying Gaara approximately every hour so that the three of them could continue until they reached the village with no prolonged stops along the way. The two older siblings felt that they had an obligation to get Gaara medical attention as quickly as possible not only because he was their little brother, but also because he was their Kazekage. All of their effort to get Gaara to the village quickly paid off when they finally reached Konoha a little after noon the next day.


	3. Enter Tenten

As Kankuro entered the village carrying Gaara the first person that he and Temari came across was a brown-haired girl wearing a Chinese style shirt.

"Can you show us where the hospital is?" Temari asked running up to her. Tenten looked over at Temari and Kankuro trying to comprehend the situation when she saw Gaara unconscious on Kankuro's back. She gasped.

"The hospital is this way," she told them leading the way back up the street. They followed her and quickly arrived at the hospital where the astonished medical ninjas rushed to care for the Kazekage before Kankuro or Temari uttered a word.

"Get a stretcher out here!" yelled one of the nurses behind the front desk. In response two medical ninjas hurried to take the unconscious teen from Kankuro's back supporting him between them. The stretcher arrived seconds later and they laid him on it before rushing him down the hall to a private room on the second floor. His siblings ran worriedly after the procession of medical staff giving any information that they could to help get Gaara the medical attention he needed.

"Can you get Tsunade down here to look at him?" asked Temari over the frantic mumbling of the nurses. She had already answered numerous questions for them, but they still couldn't seem to figure out why Gaara remained unconscious. She didn't mean to be pushy or rude, but she was scared and needed reassurance from someone she trusted that her brother would recover. The nervous kunoichi knew that the only person she would fully trust to care for Gaara was Tsunade herself. When the other medical ninjas examined Gaara the only thing they could find physically wrong with him was a large bruise on his back, probably from when he landed inside Black Ant. After they reached this conclusion and still had no answers as to why Gaara wouldn't wake they agreed to call Tsunade to examine him. As they waited for the expert medical ninja to arrive they healed the bruise with apparent ease.

Since the hospital room was still full of medical staff hooking Gaara up to an IV and heart monitors Kankuro and Temari decided to sit outside their brother's room while they waited for news on his condition. They were exhausted, but could not rest until they knew that Gaara would be alright. As they waited Kankuro realized that he didn't know whether Temari had been injured in her fight with the sound ninjas. She looked fine, but he decided to ask anyway.

"Hey, what happened with those three ninjas you fought after I left? I mean, are you injured at all?" Kankuro asked Temari resting his head against the wall behind him and looking at her across the aisle.

"I'm fine…and they won't be bothering us on our return trip," Temari answered through gritted teeth. From her tone of voice Kankuro couldn't decide if Temari was upset or just tired. She was sitting hunched over with her elbows resting on her knees and her fan propped against the wall beside her. He knew that she was too sensible to blame herself for what happened to Gaara but she definitely had a maternal side which was probably worrying about their injured little brother right now.

"You know he'll be fine," Kankuro told her trying to be reassuring.

"I know," she replied continuing to stare at the floor. "I just want someone who knows what they're talking about to tell me that," she continued smiling up at him.

Soon Tsunade arrived and hurriedly shut herself into Gaara's room so that she could do her job without being disturbed. The Hokage had been shocked to learn that the unconscious Kazekage had been admitted to their hospital almost an hour ago. She had practically flown from the Hokage tower questioning why she had not been called the moment he had arrived in that condition. She sighed as her hands glowed blue and she began a physical scan for internal injuries. She knew that there were many talented medical ninjas that worked at the hospital, but none of them had her expertise and as much as she hated to admit it they could have missed something. She emerged about an hour later having completed her exam and when she did Temari and Kankuro got to their feet right away wanting to know what she had found out. Tsunade gestured for them to enter their brother's hospital room and once they were all inside she shut the door again preferring to keep this matter as private as possible.

"He'll definitely make a full recovery," she began. Temari breathed an audible sigh of relief after hearing this. "But," Tsunade continued, "it may take some time. Whatever genjutsu caused this seemed to be targeting the pain receptors of the brain," Kankuro thought back to how much Gaara had been screaming while the genjutsu was active and shuddered. His brother had definitely been feeling pain just as Tsunade was explaining. "and while there is no physical damage to the brain it seems that Gaara's pain receptors believe that he has died which is why he has not been able to regain consciousness."

"How can that be?!" Temari interjected disbelievingly.

"After the body has endured a certain amount of pain a person will lose consciousness as the body's natural pain killers kick in," Tsunade explained patiently, "The same thing is happening to the Kazekage right now except it seems that the pain was so intense that if his body had actually been injured that badly he would have died. Because of this, even though his body is functioning properly, his brain believes that he has died. I'm afraid from here on out it'll just be a waiting game. We have to wait for the brain to realize that the body is uninjured. After that happens he'll regain consciousness and be back to normal." Temari slumped into a chair beside Gaara's bed. This was a lot to take in.

"But he'll definitely be fine?" Temari asked looking up at Tsunade.

"Yes, he'll definitely be fine as soon as he regains consciousness," Tsunade confirmed.

"Thank you," said Kankuro as Tsunade turned to leave shutting the door behind her. Kankuro also felt incredibly relieved. He had known that his brother was not dead, but had also been unsure how severely the genjutsu would affect him or if it would have any lasting consequences. Now that he knew Gaara would be alright it suddenly hit him how exhausted he was.

"Let's go find a hotel room," he suggested to Temari.

"Alright," the weary kunoichi agreed. She rose from her seat, took one more look at Gaara's peaceful face, then turned away and followed Kankuro out the door. After stopping at the front desk and making the nurse there swear to contact them if there was any change in Gaara's condition they were finally on their way to find a descent room to stay in while they were in Konoha. They were able to rent a pretty nice room just up the street from the hospital so they could get back there quickly if Gaara's condition changed- for better or worse. After putting their weapons down in the room Temari decided to get some sleep and Kankuro was about to do the same when his stomach growled, reminding him that his last meal had been about 26 hours ago. He decided to go out for some lunch before he slept and maybe bring something back for Temari who he was sure would be famished when she woke up. He grabbed Crow's summoning scroll and strapped it to his back, knowing that he would feel vulnerable if he went out without it. Then he took the room key off the table and exited the room locking it before he left.

After walking out of the building he turned his head from side to side looking up and down the street trying to decide which way looked more promising to find a good meal. He decided to go right and soon found a restaurant that looked pretty empty. The puppet master chose to try it since he could probably get his food pretty quickly with the place being that empty. He walked into the shop and sat down at a small table not noticing that the only other occupied table in the shop was across the aisle from him. The waitress hurried to welcome him to the shop, hand the hungry ninja a menu of their lunch specials and take his drink order. He had been studying the menu for several minutes when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up to see the girl who gave them directions earlier sitting at the table across from his and leaning across the aisle.

"Hey," she greeted him with a small smile, "How's your teammate doing?"

"He's still unconscious," he began, "but Tsunade said he would be fine." Tenten's eyes widened.

"Wow, they actually got Tsunade down to the hospital to treat him personally? Was it pretty bad then?" she asked curiously. After a short pause from Kankuro Tenten seemed to rethink her actions, "I'm sorry, it's none of my business," she excused herself blushing slightly and leaning back to the side of the aisle she was seated on. Kankuro nodded and went back to looking at his menu, but could feel her gaze linger on him even though he was now hidden by the large laminated list of meal options. Nosy people usually annoyed him, but her questions had not bothered him because he could tell that she honestly cared how Gaara was doing and wasn't just trying to gossip or flirt like others he had met. If he wasn't so tired he probably would have carried on the conversation with her, but right now all he could think about was getting something to eat. The waitress returned with his tea and took his order for some fried rice with pork and some dumplings to take back to the room for Temari. After the waitress left he noticed that Tenten was still discretely glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as she spoke with her comrades, one was a boy with a bowl cut and green jump suit while the other had long dark hair and, by the look of his eyes, was obviously a Hyuga. Kankuro pointedly stared at her, and soon had her attention.

"Is there something you wanted to say? Or do you just enjoy staring at people?" he questioned tiredly when she had turned to face him again.

"Hey, you were the one staring at me," she quickly pointed out before continuing in a softer tone. "It's just that…you seem familiar, maybe we met at the Chunin exams, or…yeah, it was after we helped rescue the…" she trailed off as the pieces of the puzzle finally connected inside her head and realization lit her face.

"That was the Kazekage!" she gasped.

"That took you long enough," scoffed Kankuro, amused by the facial expressions this realization had caused.

"Well it's not like I got a good look at him," she said defensively, " all I saw was a red haired boy passed out with his face buried in your back." At this point Kankuro's food arrived and their conversation was put on hold for a moment as he hungrily began his meal. He swallowed a big bite before resuming their conversation.

"So you remember my brother, does that ring any bells as to who I am?" he asked wondering if she would remember him. She didn't really have any reason to, after all he didn't remember her, but it was slightly entertaining watching her struggle to remember his name so as not to offend him.

"Let's see," she replied determinedly, thinking out loud, "there are three siblings," she said holding up three fingers, "Gaara is the youngest," she ticked off one finger, "the oldest one I fought at the Chunin exam was Temari," she ticked off another finger, "which leaves the puppet master…Kan…kuro?" she answered her statement turning into a question at the end as the put down her final finger.

"You kinda remembered," he observed continuing his meal.

"Well it's not like you remember anything about me," she pointed out, a little upset, "and I remembered both of your siblings as well."

"It's not hard to remember the Kazekage and an opponent who beat the heck out of you," Kankuro shot back between bites. Tenten glared at the tactless boy seething with anger. Sure she had lost her duel with Temari, but he didn't have to make her sound so pathetic.

"Come on guys," she commanded standing abruptly, "we shouldn't keep Gai-sensei waiting." Kankuro sighed and put down his utensil. He had clearly offended her. Normally he wouldn't care, but for some reason he felt bad this time. It must be because he owed her for helping them out this morning.

"Hey," he said catching her wrist as she walked by his seat. She turned to face him annoyance evident on her face. "I didn't mean to offend you," he stated releasing her wrist, "Thanks for helping us out this morning."

"Yeah, sure," she sighed before continuing on her way out of the restaurant.

"What's your name?" he called after her suddenly realizing he had never asked.

"Tenten," she answered coolly before stepping out the door.

_Well that could have gone better,_ thought Kankuro, _oh well, it's not like she'll out for blood._ With these thoughts he quickly finished his meal before paying and leaving with the box of dumplings they had prepared for him. After a short walk he was back at the hotel and trudged up the stairs to his room, fatigue beginning to overtake him now that his appetite was satisfied. When he got there he unlocked the door and took his shoes off in the entry way before tossing the key down on the coffee table. Kankuro then placed the take out box and Crow's summoning scroll there as well. Then he took out a kunai and carved _Tem_ into the top of the box to let Temari know that it was hers even though she would probably eat it when she woke up regardless of whether it was meant for her.

After putting down everything he was carrying Kankuro decided to get some sleep, so he crossed the living room and went into the bedroom that the three of them would share when Gaara recovered. It held three single beds, a small table with a lamp on it between the second and third beds, and a window on the far side of the room. Temari was currently occupying the bed across the room closest to the window, so Kankuro pulled back the covers of the nearest bed. The tired ninja pulled off his hat and threw it on the foot of the bed before slipping between the covers. He closed his eyes and was asleep in moments.

Kankuro stared into the darkness and as his eyes began to adjust to the lack of light he suddenly realized that he was trapped inside of Black Ant. Knowing all of the painful things he could do to people who he trapped this way panic started rise within him. He tried to remain calm and ignore the way his stomach seemed to by tying itself in knots, but knew that there was no escape from this puppet once you were caught. With this in mind the anxious puppet ninja began to call out asking if anyone was out there who could help him. He got no response, so he began to bang on the sides of the marionette with his fists and yell even louder. After a few minutes he heard a voice from outside his wooden cage. It was a female voice and at first he thought it was the sound ninja he had killed yesterday, but when he listened closer he found that this voice wasn't as annoying as hers had been. _It actually sounds kind of melodious,_ thought Kankuro surprising himself.

"You want me to help you out?" the voice asked, slightly muffled by the wood it was passing through.

"Can you open the puppet?" he questioned.

"Why would I do something like that?" the voice asked innocently.

"I'm trapped!" he explained.

"Oh I know that. How do you think you got in there?" she replied sweetly.

"You're a puppet master too?" he asked astonished.

"No, I wouldn't say that, but I _am_ pretty good with weapons. Even if it's a weapon I've never seen before I can determine how to use it based on its shape and weight, so when I found this one lying around it didn't take long for me to figure out how to trap you in it," the girl explained proudly.

"Why was it lying around?" he asked confused.

"I dunno," she answered her voice taking on a child-like property, "I guess you left it out. It's not my fault you left your dolly out for other kids to play with."

"So you trapped me in it?" he concluded still confused.

"Yeah, but you started it," she pouted still sounding childish.

"How did I start this?!" he yelled becoming annoyed. Whatever game this girl was playing he wanted out of it sooner than later.

"You made me sound pathetic when you said that Temari 'beat the heck out of me'," she accused still pouting. Kankuro thought back to the events that had happened earlier that day. She must be that girl he had accidentally offended at lunch. What was her name?

"Tenten?!" he exclaimed bewildered.

"You remembered!" she gushed happily her voice dropping its childish quality. The trapped shinobi then heard some running footsteps which ended with the puppet he was in being knocked over and something landing on top of it. _She's probably sitting on top of the puppet now,_ he thought as he was knocked roughly onto his back winding him for a moment.

"Look…," he said trying to breathe normally again, "I'm sorry, so will you let me out now?" he asked.

"I guess I could," she answered thoughtfully, "but time is almost up and I wouldn't wanna miss all the fun."

"Time for what is almost up?" he asked feeling a weight in the pit of his stomach again. Whatever it was it couldn't be good for him.

"You'll see," the cheerful girl told him. As if on cue the inside of Black Ant began to fill with fried rice. _Is this it? _he scoffed. He could think of much worse scenarios than being locked in a puppet full of fried rice. As he watched the puppet fill with rice he noticed that it wasn't stopping. At this rate the whole puppet would soon be stuffed to its capacity and he would be suffocated.

"Hey, let me out of here!" he shouted beginning to panic again. The girl seated on the puppet began to giggle uncontrollably. _Is this some kind of sick joke to her?! _He thought angrily. The marionette continued to fill with food which was now tightly packed around the puppet master and beginning to cut off his air supply. He knew that he would begin to suffocate in the next few minutes and that crazy girl was obviously not going to be any help. He closed his eyes determined to stay composed and think of a way out of this. However, the harder he thought about his predicament the more he seemed to draw a blank on how he should make his great escape. The Sand shinobi began to cough and realized that it was too late. He was already inhaling the rice and it was going down his windpipe blocking his lung's access to fresh air. Kankuro opened his eyes and noticed that his vision was starting to go fuzzy around the edges. _What a way to go,_ he thought, _buried alive in fried rice._ With that thought he completely blacked out.

Kankuro's eyes snapped open and he hurried to sit up quickly sucking in a deep breath and choking on the moist air. Amidst his coughing he noticed Temari sitting cross legged on her bed watching him. She had her box of dumplings in her lap, a half eaten stick of them in her hand and her mouth currently full. She had an amused expression on her face and Kankuro didn't like it at all. For some reason it made him feel very exposed.

"What are you looking at?" he asked after his short coughing fit had ceased.

She swallowed then replied, "I'm watching the show," with a mischievous smile on her face. Kankuro's eyebrows knit together and he gave Temari a confused look non-verbally asking for an explanation though he already knew that he didn't like where this was going.

"You were talking in your sleep genius," she explained still smiling.

"And?" he asked, "What'd I say?"

"Oh nothing," Temari chuckled to herself. Kankuro sighed. He must've said something pretty stupid. He knew from experience that she would just torture him with it, so he might as well get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. The sooner Temari forgot about this the better.

"What?" he growled staring down at his lap embarrassedly.

"Who's Tenten?" asked Temari swallowing another bite. As if by reflex Kankuro face palmed and he could feel his cheeks beginning to burn. He had yelled a girl's name in his sleep…she was never going to let him live this down.


	4. Fall Festival

It had been about a week since Gaara had been admitted to the Konoha hospital. The first few days Temari and Kankuro had rested from their journey and visited him, but when his condition didn't change Temari decided that it would be best for her to begin the negotiations that Gaara was supposed to be talking over with the Hokage. Being a Suna ambassador she had permission to do this, though she could not go through everything because only Gaara had the authority to agree to certain things.

Kankuro was not an ambassador, so while Temari was negotiating with Tsunade the puppet master decided to fix the minimal damage that his marionettes had sustained during his last battle. He finished this rather quickly and soon became bored with staying in the hotel room, so he decided to go for a walk around the village. _Who knows, maybe I'll even run into some of my Konoha friends, _he thought. The lethargic boy stretched after he got up from the couch and grabbed Crow's summoning scroll and the key to the room before heading out the door. When he exited the building he decided to go left since he had gone right last time. The easygoing ninja walked at a leisurely pace noticing structures that looked temporary lining the main streets as well as some minimal signs of construction still going on. He wondered what they were building and as he puzzled over this he soon found himself walking past Ichiraku Ramen. The Suna shinobi remembered Naruto mentioning this shop numerous times when they had talked in the past, so he decided to check it out since it happened to be a little past noon anyway. He pushed the shop's curtain aside to find Naruto with his face buried in a bowl of ramen. Kankuro smiled to himself and took a seat next to his friend. _I guess he does like this stuff as much as he said he did, _thought Kankuro slightly impressed as he watched the boy rapidly shoving ramen into his mouth. _How is he even breathing? _The sand ninja wondered after he had watched the blonde boy shovel noodles into his mouth non-stop for several minutes. This thought had barely crossed his mind when Naruto slurped loudly before slamming the bowl down on the counter gasping for breath and smiling widely. 

"Oh, hey," greeted Naruto finally noticing Kankuro seated next him.

"Hey," replied Kankuro, "so, is that stuff as good as you said it is?"

"Of course it is!" Naruto proclaimed sounding offended. "In fact it seems to get better every time I have it," he added defensively earning a chuckle from the man behind the counter.

"I guess I'll try some then," Kankuro decided.

"You've never had ramen before?" Naruto asked in awe.

Kankuro paused for a minute before replying, "I guess not."

"I should get some more then. I can't let you have your first ramen alone," Naruto grinned before ordering another bowl. When their food arrived Kankuro blew on the steaming bowl before breaking his chopsticks apart and gingerly taking a small bite of the foreign food. Naruto watched as he did this wanting to see the look on his face when he tasted Ichiraku's ramen for the first time.

"That's pretty good," the sand ninja admitted nodding in satisfaction.

"See! I told ya it was!" Naruto declared obviously pleased with himself. They ate in silence for a few moments before Kankuro spoke up again.

"So what's with all that stuff they're building along the main road?"

"Huh?...Oh, that's for the Fall Festival," Naruto explained after a short pause, "Konoha has one every year at the end of summer to celebrate the oncoming season."

"Ah," the other boy replied with mild interest.

"You should come," Naruto advised, "There's always a ton of fun stuff there, like games and performances and a lot of different food."

"Maybe…" Kankuro muttered.

"I really thought you were already planning on going," Naruto admitted, " 'cause Shikamaru said that Temari was going, so I figured…"

"Is she?" asked Kankuro feigning disinterest. _Now there's some juicy information, _he thought. "Well I guess I've got nothing better to do," the shinobi conceded, "When is this thing?"

"Tomorrow night," Naruto informed him.

"Maybe I'll see you there," Kankuro said as he finished his soup.

The next day was the same as the one before it with Temari going to talk to Tsunade and Kankuro being left in the room all alone. The sole difference was that today Temari returned earlier than usual. The blonde girl also seemed more energized than usual and he even thought he could hear her humming as she closed herself in the bathroom. _What was that about? _wondered Kankuro. _Oh_, _right, that festival thing is tonight and she's going with that Nara kid, _he recalled after a moment. Temari emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later dressed in clean clothes and with a slight scent of perfume.

"I'm gonna go see Gaara," Temari stated as she walked past him to the door.

"'Kay, don't stay out too late with 'Gaara'," Kankuro teased using air quotes.

"Shut up," she retorted opening the door, "at least I don't dream about my girlfriend murdering me."

"She's not my girlfriend!" he shouted as Temari shut the door behind her. After his sister left he sat on the couch fuming and mumbling things like, "Freakin' Temari just won't let it go...stupid dream giving her leverage…"

Eventually his anger waned and he grew bored with sitting on the couch doing nothing. He thought back to the previous day when Naruto had told him about the festival tonight. _Well there's no reason for me to stick around here,_ he thought grabbing Crow's scroll and the second room key before heading out. The puppeteer took the route that he had taken the previous day to get to Ichiraku and ended up in the middle of the festival grounds in no time.

Kankuro nonchalantly looked around at several of the stands before he noticed a crowd that was gathering at the far end of the festival grounds. The sand ninja decided to see what all the fuss was about and began making his way to the other end of the street. When he got to the back of the crowd he was able to see that there was a stage in front of them, but his view of what was on the stage was currently blocked. The puppet master weaved his way through several rows of people before he had a clear view of the people standing on the stage, but even when he could finally see what everyone in the crowd had gathered to watch he still couldn't believe his eyes. Before him he saw Tenten and a black haired boy he didn't know shaking hands in the middle of the stage. The boy looked a little younger than Tenten and had a small pony tail tied at the nape of his neck. He was also wearing clothes that were completely black except for some silver body armor that covered his torso, forearms, and the back of his hands. There was a referee standing between them who after reciting some rules about 'sportsmen like conduct' stepped to the back of the stage, waved a red flag and shouted, "Go!"

Tenten shot backward distancing herself from the boy. In response the boy hurled several kunai at her to buy time while he unsheathed two short swords which were strapped to his back criss-cross. Tenten easily dodged the flying weapons by jumping into the air and before even landing she took a small scroll from her back pouch and hastily unfurled it. The paper quickly formed a swirling funnel around her and she spun in circles following the paper as it unraveled around her. As she spun she began rapidly summoning weapons which she hurled at her opponent. Despite his best efforts to remain indifferent Kankuro found himself feeling impressed at not only the speed of her summons, but also the accuracy she had while throwing the weapons in such quick succession .

Tenten's adversary, however, seemed unfazed by this assault and managed to block almost everything she threw at him with his twin kodachis. Every now and then a senbon or shuriken would stick into the armor on his hand or forearm, but he somehow managed to protect himself from sustaining any injuries. By the time Tenten was nearing the end of her attack the stage was littered with weapons sticking into the floor and back wall. _Is that the best she has? _Kankuro wondered when he noticed that Tenten was nearing the end of her scroll, _If so it obviously wasn't enough, just like last time_. As he was thinking this she summoned her last weapon, but instead of immediately throwing it at her opponent she held onto it. The last of the scroll then fell to the ground, but Tenten was not done yet. She smiled in determination as she pulled the wires attached to all of her discarded weapons sending them flying at the dark haired boy's back. The boy whipped around and began defending himself against the newly launched weapons not noticing Tenten land noiselessly behind him. The stealthy girl began to wield her final weapon which was was a large sickle with a ball and chain attached to the end of the handle. The brown haired kunoichi expertly swung the chain in a circle to gather momentum before throwing it at her unsuspecting target. Before the boy knew what hit him the chain had wrapped itself securely around his neck. The surprised victim tried to counter her attack, but before he could even begin to remove the chain from his neck Tenten jerked it sharply sending the boy flying backwards toward her. Without missing a beat the well trained girl caught the boy by placing both hands on his shoulders, stomped on the back of his calf to send him into a kneeling position and rested the sickle across his throat. As soon as the male ninja was trapped in this compromised position the judge declared Tenten the winner of the match. Upon hearing this Tenten released the boy and the competitors bowed to each other before stepping off stage. _Wow, _thought Kankuro, _she's gotten a lot better. Instead of throwing the ninja tools as her main attack like last time she used it as a diversion._

Kankuro watched as the victorious girl hopped off the stage and walked up to two nearly identical figures each sporting bowl cuts and green tights. They had been waiting for her at the side of the stage and appeared to be congratulating her on her win. Tenten responded by scratching the back of her head and saying something which caused the other two to laugh while she scowled at them. After a moment the shorter boy stopped laughing and said something which appeared to cheer her up. After they talked for a little while longer the boy smiled widely at her while giving a thumbs up. She smiled fondly back at him before waving to both of them and walking away toward the rest of the festival.

Kankuro quickly detached himself from the crowd and started making his way toward her. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he wanted to talk with her again.

"Nice job," he congratulated walking up to her.

"Thank- Oh, it's you," she groaned turning away from him.

"Hey," he said stepping in front of her so she was forced to face him, "Are you still mad about the other day? I wasn't trying to insult you, besides from that display just now it seems like you've gotten a lot better since the Chunin exams."

"Well of course I did," she told him impatiently, "It's been like three years since then."

"Right, but not everyone would have persevered like you did," he explained trying to get on her good side again.

"Well with Gai-Sensei training me there really wasn't any other option," she sighed, "and anyway after I fought Temari I realized that I needed to get stronger." "Losing in front of everyone once was humiliating enough," she finished looking at her feet.

"Was your sensei the guy you were talking to just now?" Kankuro asked trying to lighten the suddenly tense atmosphere while fishing for information about her. He wasn't sure why, but something about her intrigued him and it was entertaining trying to piece together her personality.

"Yeah, that was Gai-Sensei and my teammate Lee. They said they would clean up my ninja tools so I could enjoy the rest of the festival…but I really should have done it myself…and I don't know if Gai-Sensei knows how to reseal them and I _know_ Lee can't…," she explained looking conflicted.

"I know how you feel," he comforted her, "I wouldn't let anyone else handle Crow if I could help it."

"Is that your puppet?" she asked suddenly noticing the summoning scroll he was carrying on his back.

"Yep," the puppet ninja answered proudly.

"What kind of weapons do you use with it?" Tenten questioned looking intrigued.

"First of all where were you headed?" asked Kankuro.

"That dumpling stand," she replied pointing down the street, "I'm starving."

"Let's go then," he advised stepping to the side and beginning to walk with her down the street. "Now with Crow I keep mostly hidden weapons that I can launch, though he does have some hidden razors on the outside of his arms if I need them," he continued excited that someone actually wanted to hear about his puppets. Most people seemed to find them creepy for some reason that he could never understand.

"What about poison?" she inquired, "I always thought about carrying poisoned senbon, but Gai-Sensei never liked the idea."

"Almost all of my weapons are poisoned," he answered in surprise, "I just thought it was common sense to poison them. They're a lot more effective that way."

"Hmm, maybe I'll try carrying a few then," she said thoughtfully.

They walked together until they got to the stand where they both bought several sticks of dumplings, and then continued to walk down the street looking at different stands as they ate their food. When Tenten had finished eating they came across a balloon dart stand and she decided it would be fun to show off a little. She walked over to the game and paid the man behind the counter before receiving six darts.

"Watch this," she said flashing Kankuro a confident smile. The kunoichi then placed three darts between her fingers in each hand before taking several steps back. A look of concentration settled on her face and she took a deep breath before stepping with her left foot and throwing the darts in her right hand and quickly repeating the process with her left hand and right foot. Her darts had landed in two vertical rows and as expected she had clean hits on six of the balloons.

"Congratulations!" smiled the man running the game. "Which stuffed animal would you like?" he asked gesturing to several rows of large stuffed animals hanging above his head. Tenten considered the many options for a minute before pointing to a large furry panda.

"Good choice," the man commented as he unhooked the bear from the ceiling and handed it to her. She held the bear and stared at it for a moment before placing it on her shoulders and hanging onto its feet.

"So? What 'cha think?" she asked turning back to Kankuro.

"That was nothing," he answered brushing off her impressive display of skill. The puppet master then proceeded to walk up to the booth and also handed the man some money before receiving six darts of his own. Then he took the scroll from his back and summoned Crow. When the puppet had appeared he hastily disconnected its right hand allowing the senbons hidden inside its hollow forearm to slide out onto the ground. The puppet ninja then loaded the six darts into the puppet's arm and secured the hand back in place.

"Watch _this_" he smirked competitively. With that chakra strings snaked from his finger tips and he expertly maneuvered the puppet as it rapidly fired the darts landing all six in a horizontal row across the balloon board. Unfortunately the balloons were set up in a formation that was only four balloons wide, so although his aim had been right on he had only managed to hit four out of six possible targets.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Tenten unable to contain herself after his tough talk. Kankuro stared at the board the darts were embedded in with an unamused expression before detaching Crow's hand and placing the senbons back into his arm. He then silently sealed the puppet back into the scroll and tied it to his back once more. Tenten watched curiously as he did this, studying his face. She wasn't sure, but he appeared to be…pouting. He started walking away from the game when the man behind the counter called after him.

"Don't you want your prize?" he asked in surprise. Kankuro glanced at the many plush toys before shrugging and turning to walk away again. Before he could get too far Tenten ran up to the counter and pointed out a black cat with dark purple accents.

"I think that one," she advised pointing out the toy. The man nodded, unhooked the cat and handed it to her. The cheerful girl accepted the toy, then bowed slightly to the man before hurrying to catch up with Kankuro.

"Here," she offered holding up the cat with one hand.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" he asked coolly eyeing the toy that was noticeably smaller than the one riding on his companion's shoulders.

"It's your new friend," she explained holding it out to him insistently.

"Psh, I don't make friends with inanimate objects," he rolled his eyes.

"Shhh!" Tenten hushed him seriously holding a finger to her lips. "If you say stuff like that you might offend Crow," she told him. He sighed.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly taking the stuffed cat from her hand. "Why'd you pick this one anyway?" he asked as he studied the toy in his hand, "Do I look like a cat person to you or something?"

"Actually it kinda reminded me of you," she admitted as a rosy hue colored her cheeks. Kankuro was dumbfounded for a moment and before he knew what he was doing he found himself handing the cat back to her.

"You keep it then," he mumbled. Tenten looked at the toy for a moment before looking up at the boy handing it to her. He looked flustered and although it was hard to tell through all the make-up she thought she detected a hint of a blush.

"Do you want it or not?" he asked impatiently still holding the toy out to her. Tenten took the toy from his hand and tucked it into her elbow.

"Thanks," she smiled, "The fireworks should be starting soon. Do you wanna watch them?"

"Sure," he replied casually, "where do you watch them from in Konoha?"

"Well most people watch them from the field just outside town," she explained, "but I like to watch them from the tower next to the training field because there the tree line doesn't get in the way."

"Alright," Kankuro agreed, "Lead the way." She lead them away from the festival to the tower where her team had first met as genin. After placing her stuffed animals safely inside the seating area they climbed onto the circular roof to get a better view of the fireworks.

"How long are you in Konoha for?" Tenten asked while they waited for the fireworks to start.

"It was supposed to be for a week while Gaara had negotiations with Lady Tsunade, but it's already been over a week and he's still comatose, so I don't really know at this point," he explained keeping his gaze on the sky line where the fireworks would appear.

"I'm sorry," she replied putting her hand on his shoulder so he would look at her. "I'm sure he'll recover soon," she told him sympathetically.

"Gaara's tough. I have no doubt that he'll recover," Kankuro stated confidently. The fireworks started then and they watched in companionable silence as bursts of red and blue lit up the night sky. After several minutes of staring straight ahead he snuck a look at the girl beside him out of the corner of his eye. He saw the fireworks' reflection in her eyes and noticed for the first time how deep and beautiful they were. They were like pools of warm brown color and he could see in them that she was caring and cheerful, but also feisty and a force to be reckoned with. The shinobi returned his gaze to the sky where the fireworks were still exploding before them.

As the firework display continued Tenten began to feel drowsy. She had been busy all day preparing for the competition Gai-Sensei had entered her in and now that she was finally resting it seemed that all of the day's activity was catching up with her. Her eyes began to drift closed and the next thing she knew everything was cool and dark. Too soon she heard a voice calling out to her, trying to wake her. At first she couldn't distinguish any words, but then she felt a strong tug on her arm. It felt like someone was trying to pull her arm out of the socket and the pressure wasn't lessening. She blinked her eyes open and was instantly alert when she found herself dangling off the side of a building.

"Hurry up and give me your other hand!" the voice from before commanded, "You're slipping!" Tenten obediently stretched her other hand upward toward the source of the voice and found the edge of the roof she was dangling from. She grasped it with her fingers and her wrist was immediately grabbed and yanked upwards as the person on the roof tried to pull her up to safety.

Kankuro struggled to pull the small girl back onto the roof. The fireworks had barely finished when he looked to the side to ask her a question and saw her collapse onto her side.

"Oi, you alright?" he called. Tenten's only response was to shift slightly in her sleep which caused her to begin rolling off the roof. When he saw this Kankuro immediately dove forward to catch her before she fell off the edge, but only succeeded in grabbing her right hand as her body began to plummet off the roof. The Suna ninja laid on his stomach with his arms fully extended trying to pull his companion back onto the roof, but try as he might he could not seem lift her at all. On top of that his hands were sweating and she was beginning to slip. If she didn't want to fall she was going to have to help him rescue her.

"Hurry up and give me your other hand!" he called, "You're slipping!" She seemed to hear him this time and responded by gripping the edge of the roof with her other hand which he immediately grabbed, but even when he was holding onto both of her hands he had no success in lifting her back onto the roof. _She's such a small girl, so why does she weigh so much? _he wondered as he fought to keep a hold of her with his sweaty hands.

"My big scroll is weighing me down," she said as if she could read his mind, "Just let go of my hand for a minute so I can detach it."

"If I let go for that long you'll slip," Kankuro told her trying to think of another way to get her out of harm's way. "Wait a minute," he continued getting an idea, "Ok, I'm gonna put your hand back on the roof, but just for a second, so try to hang on." With that he gave her left hand a squeeze before placing it back on the edge of the roof. Tenten's fingers struggled to support her weight and just when she thought she was going to lose her grip she felt something embrace her around the waist. Surprise and then relief swept through the kunoichi when she looked down and saw Kankuro's chakra strings holding her securely around the middle. She sighed in relief as she was lifted to safety. The puppeteer placed her on the roof next to him and they both collapsed in exhaustion. Tenten laid her large scroll across her stomach so that she could comfortably lie on her back and they both laid there in silence for a few minutes recovering from the shock of their little almost tragedy.

"Thanks," she breathed, "I might have to down grade the amount of weapons I keep with me."

"No worries," he told her, "next time I save you I'll just use the chakra strings right away."

"That's so reassuring," she retorted her voice thick with sarcasm.

"And next time maybe I'll make you dance around like a puppet as pay back for making me save you," he added.

"Like I'd let you get away with that!" she responded looking over at him. "Hey, you lost your hat," she commented noticing his messy brown hair for the first time.

"So?" he replied indifferently continuing to stare at the dark sky above them. Tenten did not avert her gaze from his hair, however, and the more the stared at it the more she was overcome with the urge to touch it. She inched closer to him and hesitantly reached out her hand to skim the tips of her fingers over his hair. She was surprised to find that it was soft, thick and made her want to play with it. Tenten scooted closer still, stuck her fingers into his hair, and began twirling it around her fingers enjoying the soft texture.

"What are you doing?" Kankuro asked with amusement in his voice. He turned his head to the side to look at her, but when he did he became aware that her face was now only inches from his. This sudden closeness caused him to blush scarlet. Tenten giggled at his reaction and turned her head to look up at the sky again with her fingers still resting in his hair.

"I'll teach you to laugh at me," Kankuro threatened mischievously. Then he quickly sat up and began tickling her sides. Tenten's eyes widened in surprise as she let out a burst of laughter.

"Stop stop," she pleaded between giggles swatting at his hands.

"Not until you've learned your lesson," Kankuro smiled as he continued to tickle her.

"There you are!" exclaimed a voice from behind them causing them to jump. They turned around to see Naruto standing there taking in the scene before him.

"What're you-," he began before shaking his head and continuing, "No time for that," he chided himself, " Kankuro, we need you to come to the hospital right away. Gaara just regained consciousness."

"What?! Are you sure?!" sputtered Kankuro in disbelief.

"Yeah, and Granny Tsunade and Temari are already there, so you better hurry," Naruto instructed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Great a shadow clone," Kankuro groaned, "now how am I supposed to find the hospital."

"I'll show you the way," Tenten volunteered. She hopped down to the seating area below them and tucked both of her stuffed animals under her arms. "Come on," she encouraged before jumping onto a lower roof top and running along it. Kankuro wasted no time in following the lithe girl and sped off after her wanting to make sure that he was there for his brother as soon as possible.


	5. Duel

Tenten burst through the hospital's main entrance followed seconds later by Kankuro. She stepped aside to let him pass because she didn't know where the Kazekage's room was or if she was allowed to accompany his brother any farther. She was surprised when Kankuro grabbed her wrist as he passed, pulling her down the hall along with him. After she shook off the surprise Tenten pulled her wrist out of Kankuro's grasp and walked beside him. The brown haired girl looked over at her companion with a questioning glance. When he saw it he just shrugged and said, "I didn't feel like leaving you behind. It won't be a big deal."

The two of them continued on to Gaara's room in silence and when they found the right room on the second floor Kankuro entered to see Gaara sitting up in bed talking to a smiling Temari who was seated in a chair next to him while Tsunade removed cords from the shirtless boy's chest and arms. Kankuro tried to enter the room casually though he was so relieved to see his brother alright again that he could feel tears forming in the back of his eyes. He fought them back and stuck his hands in his pockets before walking over to Gaara's bedside.

"Hey little bro, glad to see you're alright," he smiled.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better," Gaara replied, "Temari was just explaining what happened after I passed out."

"The short version is that we'll probably be here for two more days," Temari told him. "You said Gaara will be released from the hospital tomorrow morning, right?" she inquired turning to Tsunade.

"Yes, we would like to monitor him over night just to make sure that everything is back to normal, but everything looks good so far, so he should be released in the morning," the Hokage answered.

"Thank you," said Gaara, "I'll come to the Hokage tower after I'm released to finish negotiations."

"Alright," Tsunade agreed, "but if you feel weak at all don't push yourself."

"I said I feel completely normal," Gaara replied calmly, "I'll be at the Hokage tower tomorrow." Tsunade sighed.

"Well, I'm done," she announced winding up the latest cord that she had removed from Gaara's chest. A lone heart monitor remained attached to Gaara's wrist, but he was otherwise cord free now.

"Thank you for looking after him," Temari told her. Tsunade nodded before heading for the door where she noticed Tenten standing uncertainly in the doorway.

Tenten had hung back at the doorway feeling out of place. She didn't want to intrude on what seemed to be a family moment and was also unsure if the Kazekage would be comfortable with a complete stranger seeing him shirtless.

"Were you looking for someone?" Tsunade asked her in surprise. Kankuro looked back at the doorway to see who Tsunade was talking to and noticed for the first time that Tenten had not entered the room behind him. Instead she was standing in the doorway largely obscured by the large stuffed panda she was hugging in front of her. It crossed his mind that she looked cute hugging her stuffed animals like that and allowed a small smile to form on his lips.

Tenten wasn't sure how to answer Tsunade's question. She wasn't looking for anyone, but if she said that Tsunade would wonder why she was in the hospital at all. Maybe the blonde medical ninja would think that she was spying on the Kazekage like a creeper, after all he was shirtless right now. Tenten admired Tsunade and the last thing she wanted was the kunoichi that she looked up to thinking that she was a creeper or a pervert. Tenten stood there frozen staring at the older woman who was waiting for an explanation. She could tell the Hokage was becoming impatient but she couldn't think of a way to explain the reason for her presence here.

"She showed me the way here," Kankuro explained for her, "and I asked her to come in with me."

"I see," Tsunade responded, "well can you move out of the doorway?" Tenten bowed slightly before entering the room to stand next to Kankuro. Tsunade then left the room and closed the door behind her. After hearing Kankuro say that she belonged here Tenten began to regain her confidence and lowered her stuffed animals to her sides so that her torso was visible again.

"Temari, can you hand me that?" Gaara asked indicating a black shirt sitting on the table next to her. She handed it to him and he slipped it on with only minimal problems due to the heart monitor.

"This is Tenten," Kankuro said introducing his companion."She guided us to the hospital when we first got you to the village," he explained to Gaara.

"Thank you," Gaara said sincerely looking her in the eyes.

"Glad I could help," Tenten replied smiling.

"Kankuro, why don't you walk your friend home," Temari suggested after a moment of silence, "I want to talk to Gaara about the negotiations."

"That's really not necessary," Tenten blurted out, "if you'd rather have him stay I can walk myself home."

"It's alright, we don't need him," Temari smiled.

"Geez, thanks a lot, Tem," Kankuro grumbled.

"Oh, come on! You act like you don't want to walk her home when you obviously do. I'm doing you a favor," she told him matter-of-factly before turning back to Gaara. This statement made Kankuro angry and embarrassed at the same time and together both emotions made his face glow red. He glared at Temari before turning to leave the room.

"Come on," he said as he passed Tenten trying to hide his face from her in case he was still blushing. Tenten bowed to the remaining sand siblings before leaving to catch up with Kankuro. When she caught up to him he was already at the hospital entrance. They exited the building together and walked in silence for a while.

"Hey, don't listen to anything my sister says," Kankuro advised breaking the silence, "she's just trying to embarrass me."

"So you don't want to walk me home?" Tenten asked innocently.

"Well…I guess I could since we're already on our way there," he answered trying to sound indifferent.

"Ok," Tenten agreed swinging her stuffed animals back and forth at her sides as she walked. "What was your favorite part of tonight?" she continued conversationally.

"When you fell off the roof," the playful boy smirked.

"Hmph," she scowled crossing her arms in front of her. "I'm glad me almost falling to my death was so amusing for you…besides I still beat you at the dart game," she pointed out trying to make herself feel better.

"If we were in actual combat I could beat you any day," Kankuro stated confidently.

"Is that a challenge?" the kunoichi asked competitively. As she said this they reached her house and she stood next to the front door with her hands tightening into fists around her stuffed animal's limbs.

"Sure, any time any place," he continued.

"Good!" she shot back, "How about tomorrow, 10 a.m., training field number five."

"Sounds good," he answered a little taken aback at her forwardness. He hadn't expected her to take this so seriously.

"Do you think you can find it yourself this time? Or do you need me to show you the way?" she inquired sarcastically.

"Actually…" he began smiling impishly, "just point me in the right direction." Tenten sighed.

"From here it's that way," she told him pointing to the south east.

"Alright, see ya," he waved walking away down the street nonchalantly. Tenten entered her house, kicked off her shoes at the door, stomped to her room, threw her two new plush toys on the floor, and collapsed face first onto her bed. _Why does he get me so worked up? _she wondered. _I barely know him at all so why does he have such an effect on me?! Uhhh, I hate this, _she thought in frustration hugging a pillow and burying her face in it.

The next morning Kankuro was getting ready to leave their hotel room when he noticed Temari in the kitchen still eating breakfast.

"So, what? Now that Gaara's back you're off the hook?" he questioned.

"No," she answered with her mouth full. The blonde swallowed before continuing, "I'm meeting Gaara at the hospital at noon. Tsunade insisted on starting the meeting later today. Something about Gaara's body going into shock if he tries to do too much right after coming out of a coma." "Where are you off to?" she asked suspiciously noticing that he had all three puppet summoning scrolls with him today.

"Nowhere," Kankuro answered evasively slipping his shoes on.

"You're going to see that girl again, aren't you," his sister stated smugly.

"What makes you think she's so special?" he countered defensively.

"Why would you bring her with last night if you didn't care about her?" she reasoned. Kankuro shot his older sibling a glare before disappearing out the door. Upon exiting the building he tried to remember which way Tenten had told him the training fields were. The puppet ninja wasn't sure if he could find his way there from his current location, so he decided to go back toward Tenten's house thinking that with any luck he would be able to tail her to the right practice field.

Kankuro crouched on a rooftop several houses down from the one he had seen Tenten enter last night. After several minutes of waiting he saw her leave her house and begin making her way down the street. He waited until she reached the end of the street and turned the corner before dashing over the rooftops to follow her. When he reached the last rooftop on the street he crouched down again and watched her walking up the next street. _Good, it doesn't seem like she suspects anything, _he thought. The Suna shinobi waited for her to turn the corner again before racing along the next set of rooftops, but this time when he reached the last house on the street Tenten was nowhere to be seen. This street was busier than the others had been so he studied the people on the street carefully trying to make sure he had not missed her. When he was sure he had lost track her he cursed his bad luck and began thinking of what he should do now.

"What's with that potty mouth?" teased Tenten from the rooftop to the left of where he stood, "Lost something?" Kankuro looked over at Tenten in surprise.

"How long did you know I was following?" questioned Kankuro feeling a little discouraged that he had been found out so easily.

"Since about halfway down the second street," Tenten answered, "If you needed me to show you the way you could have just said so last night when I asked."

"Don't act like you were being nice. There was so much sarcasm dripping off that question I could have used it to oil joints on all three of my puppets," the sand ninja accused.

"Well you did laugh at me almost falling to my death and then question my ninja skills," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but it was a joke," he told her, "I didn't think you'd get so angry." Tenten looked down at the roof tiles between them. She was embarrassed about getting so worked up last night. Even she didn't know why it had bothered her so much, after all he was obviously joking about thinking that her falling off the roof was funny. The girl recalled how he had looked as relieved as she felt after he had rescued her last night which clearly meant that he was worried for her.

"Well I'm over it now," she told him looking back up at him.

"You still wanna fight then?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" the fearless girl smiled, "I never back down from a challenge. Come on." She led the way to the training ground which was a grassy field surrounded by trees on three sides and containing several practice posts along the tree free side. They faced each other in the middle of the field before their duel began.

"Just one rule," Tenten announced, "the match ends when the enemy has been trapped with a possible kill stroke or when a competitor taps out and admits defeat. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," the puppet ninja answered.

"Oh, and if you could try not to poison me that would be great," the brown haired kunoichi added remembering their conversation at the festival.

"I'll see what I can do," he replied.

"Alright…Go!" she yelled before darting into the trees behind her. The puppeteer followed suit and also retreated into the foliage behind him deciding that it would be best to get out of plain sight before summoning his puppets. He decided to summon all three not knowing what to expect and a second later he was glad he did. Just as Kankuro finished summoning his marionettes he heard the soft popping noise of a summon being made above him and looked up just in time to see a gigantic mace appear. The Suna ninja had barely enough time to hide inside Salamander and avoid being crushed by the immense metal object. _She's definitely playing to win, so I shouldn't hold back either _he decided before jumping out of the puppet onto the ground below. He looked up to see Tenten standing on top of the giant mace with her back turned in his direction. _Good, she hasn't spotted me yet, _he thought, _time to set up my trap._

Kankuro disappeared soundlessly into the trees and set up three trip wires. Best case scenario he would distract her with Crow, she would trip over the wire, land in Black Ant and the match would be over. He found a good hiding place among the leaves, but when he looked back at the huge weapon embedded in the forest floor his adversary was nowhere to be seen. _So she decided to hit and run, huh? _he thought, _Well that's fine I know she'll come out with little provoking. _With that thought he used Crow to rustle some leaves opposite his hiding place and sure enough Tenten took the bait. She shot out of hiding launching a volley of shuriken ahead of her. When she reached the spot the puppet had been she found a retreating Crow who immediately began firing senbon at her out of its palm. She took out a kunai to block the projectiles and chased after the marionette determined not to give Kankuro the chance to hide it again.

_This is going almost too perfectly, _thought Kankuro as he led her into the trip wires he had set. When she reached the first wire he had set up she slashed through it with the kunai without breaking her pace.

"Really? You think it's that easy to trick me?" she asked as she shredded the second wire. "Remember I'm a weapons specialist and that includes booby traps," she reminded him. The girl went on the offensive and threw several kunai with paper bombs wrapped around the hilt as she continued to pursue Crow. Kankuro expertly manipulated the puppet to dodge the weapons which ended up lodged in various trees before exploding. Before she knew it Tenten was surrounded by a cloud of debris as pieces of wood sprayed everywhere when the paper bombs detonated. Tenten put her hands up to shield her face and in doing so failed to see the last trip wire. The wire caught her by the toe and sent her face first toward the ground. Out of her peripheral vision the rapidly descending ninja noticed a dark object flying toward her which she assumed to be a puppet, but she was currently in a free fall and had no way to dodge it.

After the paper bombs had exploded the resulting cloud of debris made it hard for Kankuro to see what was going on, but he managed to see that his last trip wire had come though and Tenten was plummeting toward Black Ant. He had hidden the puppet in the foliage several stories below where most of the fighting had been taking place and now he sent the puppet racing forward to catch the girl before he lost his chance. The puppet master scooped the kunoichi sideways into the puppet and set it down on the tree limb opposite of where it had been hiding.

"Got cha!" he declared triumphantly.

"Do you really?" asked a voice from below. Kankuro lifted up Crow in confusion. It was heavier than usual, so there was definitely something in there. He decided that she was bluffing and quickly detached Crow's limbs to reveal the long jagged knives jutting out of the end of each. The Suna ninja placed each over their corresponding slot in Black Ant as if preparing to stab them into the puppet.

"I win," he called, "You're trapped and I've got my kill stroke ready."

"I don't care! Do it!" she exclaimed. Kankuro was shocked at hearing this reply. Surely she was not so upset about losing that she just wanted him to end it for her. There was no way Tenten was that kind of person.

"You got a death wish or something?" he asked puzzled.

"I won't die. I promise," she assured him. Upon hearing this he raised his eyebrow critically. No one had ever escaped from Black Ant, but she seemed to have something up her sleeve and he was curious to see what it was. It went against his better judgment, but finally Kankuro gave in and plunged the weapons into Black Ant. He waited for the usual scream of pain, but none came. Instead he heard a voice from somewhere in the foliage commenting, "Wow, that would've been messy." The puppeteer's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly opened Black Ant to reveal a large block of wood that all of his knives were now stuck into. Kankuro groaned inwardly. She must have done a substitution jutsu right when he began locking the puppet.

Tenten suddenly jumped out of the tree cover with her big scroll in hand and summoned half a dozen wakizashi in midair. She immediately fired three at Crow's torso and the three remaining ones at Black Ant. Kankuro knew that he could not move both marionettes out of the way in time, so he focused on getting Crow out of harm's way while allowing Black Ant to be impaled through the middle. Tenten hurried to the target she had hit and stomped on the hilts of the swords to push them further into the tree limb behind the puppet ensuring that it would not be going anywhere. The same could not be said for Crow's limbs, however, which Kankuro quickly detached them from Black Ant and used as swords to fight against her. Tenten blocked the first few blows with a kunai, then back flipped several yards out of the way and shot up into the trees again. She decided not to hide this time and sped quickly from tree to tree spraying weapons as she went. Initially Kankuro used the blades on Crow's limbs to chase after her, but soon found that she could out run them and decided to return them to the marionette. As he was reattaching the limbs Kankuro didn't notice Tenten continuing narrow down his location. When his puppet was ready to go he heard a whistling sound from behind him and shot upward out of his hiding place just in time to avoid being impaled by a giant shuriken.

Tenten smiled. She had finally succeeded in flushing him out. _This is the chance I've been waiting for, _she thought, _I should have the advantage in a hand to hand fight. _She hurled a volley of shuriken at her opponent as she made her way toward him. He was able to dodge the weapons, and allowed himself to descend toward the forest floor where he landed gracefully. Tenten followed him and summoned a pair of butterfly swords before engaging him in melee combat. She was surprised to find that he wasn't half bad as he used a kunai to skillfully block every swipe of her sword. She smiled to herself. Her opponent wasn't bad, but she was still better. The kunoichi quickly discarded one of her blades and threw a smoke bomb at the ground near Kankuro's feet. She used the opportunity provided by his surprise at the sudden darkness to knock the kunai out of his hand. Kankuro's back was against a tree, so he had nowhere to run and when the smoke cleared he stood before her defenseless.

"Ha! I win!" she declared hastily resting the butterfly sword across his throat. If he tried to move in any way she could easily slice open his jugular.

"Think again," he smirked. As he said this she felt a prick on the back of her neck. The senbon in Crow's mouth was poised at the back of her neck and could skewer her at the slightest movement of his fingers.

"It's a draw then," Tenten concluded lowering her weapon. "Good match," she said offering him her hand to shake but as she did she felt her entire body go numb. As her muscles relaxed she could no longer maintain her balance and she fell forward face planting into Kankuro's chest.

"Hey, what's-" he began but with her face buried in his chest the back of her neck clearly visible and he already knew what was wrong. There was a thin trail of blood staining the back of her shirt from where the senbon in Crow's mouth had pierced her skin. The wound was shallow, but Kankuro knew that the senbon had been poisoned and as soon as the poison enters the blood stream, no matter how little, it's over.

"Oh crap," Kankuro swore quickly releasing his chakra strings and allowing his puppet to fall to the ground. He took hold of the girl's shoulders and held her at arm's length to see what condition she was in. It seemed that the poison was working very quickly in this small person because she was already unconscious. Kankuro carefully guided her to the ground so she could avoid further injury and placed her head and shoulders in his lap. Then he hurriedly fished in his ninja bag for a small bottle of antidote that he always carried with him having learned the hard way years ago that you never carry poison unless you also carry the antidote. The frantic boy's fingers finally skimmed the surface of the little glass bottle and he wasted no time in retrieving it. He knew this poison was supposed to rapidly paralyze an opponent but Tenten's face was losing color at an alarming rate. The puppet ninja gently put his thumb and forefinger around the unconscious girl's small chin and pulled her mouth open so he could pour the medicine down her throat. After he had administered all of the antidote he took a piece of gauze and a bandage from the small kit of emergency medical supplies that he carried. The cut on the back of her neck was shallow, so he was sure he could deal with it on his own. He placed the gauze over the cut then wrapped the bandage around her neck several times, being careful not to wrap it too tightly, before tying it off on the side. Now all he had to do was wait. He had given her the antidote to deal with the poison and dressed her wound all he could do now was wait for her to regain consciousness. The Suna shinobi thought about taking her somewhere more comfortable to recover, after all he was sure that he could carry her easily, but he knew that moving an injured person was usually a bad idea. This was especially true when poison is involved and any movement of the person's body will only spread the poison around more. Kankuro finally decided that since her life was no longer in danger it would be best to wait here with her until she woke up.

Kankuro looked down at the unconscious girl and realized that her head had fallen further back than it should be leaving a crick in her neck. He looked for something to cushion her head with, but realized that he had nothing suitable, so he slid his hand under her head to support it. He gazed at her face and realized that this was the most peaceful he had ever seen the girl. When he had seen her before she had always been pretty energetic, but Kankuro decided that he liked seeing this side of her too. The knot at the back of her head band was starting to hurt his hand, so he untied it and laid it on the ground next to her. The shinobi slid his hand back under his companion's head and wondered how long it would take for the antidote to break down all the poison inside her.

A little over an hour later a semi-conscious Tenten began clawing at the bandages around her neck.

"Hey, no, leave that," Kankuro scolded as he grabbed her slender wrists and pinned them together in front of her in one of his large fists. Tenten's eyes slowly opened and she had to blink several times before they would focus. When her world was no longer blurry she noticed Kankuro looking down at her with a concerned expression on his face. She looked around taking in her surroundings and realized that she was still in the forest by the practice field. _Why was I sleeping in a place like this? _she wondered. Then she looked back at Kankuro and realized that she had been sleeping on his lap with one of his hands cradling her head. She blushed lightly and her mind began to race trying to remember why she was in this situation. Tenten tried to run a hand through her bangs and realized that both of her hands were trapped in Kankuro's large fist.

"Um, you gonna let me go?" she asked unsure of why he was holding her hands down in the first place.

"Ok, but the bandage stays," he told her before releasing her wrists. Her hand immediately went to her neck and her fingers skimmed over the front of the bandage. As she did this she recalled the end of their fight when Crow had pricked her on the back of the neck and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"You jerk! You poisoned me didn't you?!" she accused incredulously.

"Well…yes," he answered hesitantly, "but I also gave you the antidote, so as far as I see it we're even."

"I suppose so," she agreed realizing that he had taken care of her after she blacked out. Tenten sat up and immediately got a splitting head ache. She groaned and held her head in her hands.

"If your head hurts you should lay down a little longer," Kankuro advised, "You just woke up, so there's probably still some poison in your system."

"I'm ok," she told him stubbornly standing up, however as soon as she was on her feet it seemed like the forest began spinning and she immediately fell back down.

"Yeah, looks like it to me," Kankuro commented sarcastically. "Come on, don't be stubborn," he added placing two fingers on her forehead and pushing her head back down onto his lap.

"Where's my headband?" she asked noting the warmth of his fingers on her forehead. In response he put the same two fingers on her left temple and turned her head to the right so she could see her headband lying on the ground next to her. She breathed a small sigh of relief, glad to know it was safe. The headband identified where her loyalty as a shinobi belonged, so it was important to her. She turned her head back and stared up at the sky. She had never just laid outside and looked at the sky like this and as peaceful as it was she found herself becoming bored after a few minutes of silence had passed. The newly awakened girl looked up at Kankuro's face. The makeup made it harder to read his expression and she found him to be a very puzzling person to begin with. She gave up trying to figure out what he was thinking about and reached up to grab the corner of his hat. The brown haired girl pulled it off his head and tossed it over her head onto the ground.

"If I don't get to wear mine you don't get to wear yours," she explained. Kankuro shrugged. He didn't really care because it wasn't like she hadn't seen him without it before.

Tenten looked up at Kankuro again and his messy brown hair caught her attention. She was overcome with the same feeling as last night as if there was a magnetic force pulling her hand toward his hair. She had no idea what made her want to run her fingers through his hair so much, but she was determined to contain it this time. The girl folded her hands over her stomach to make them behave, though her fingers kept fidgeting.

"You ok there?" asked Kankuro looking half amused and half concerned at how fidgety she was.

"I'm fine," she sighed trying to calm herself down.

"We'll, uh, probably be here for a while longer," he told her, "so why don't we talk about something."

"Information gathering?" she asked in confusion.

"Look," he began, "you're not wearing your headband and I'm not wearing mine, so right now we're just people."

"Ok," she agreed, "20 questions."

"What?" asked Kankuro.

"We'll play 20 questions," Tenten clarified, "That way we can take turns talking about ourselves."

"Alright," the puppet ninja said, "I'll go first." He asked his first question to get the game started and as they found out more about each other they both became more intrigued by the other. In the end they each asked much more than 20 questions and passed several hours talking. Eventually Tenten's stomach growled loudly reminding her that it was past lunch time. She blushed in embarrassment knowing that he had also heard it and slowly sat up hoping she wouldn't get dizzy again. To her surprise she felt much better than she had last time and when she stood this time she managed to stay on her feet. Tenten picked up her headband from the ground and tied it back in place as Kankuro also stood and began using his chakra strings to retrieve his puppets.

"Can I get some help with Black Ant?" he asked realizing that it was still pinned to the tree.

"Oh, sure," the weapons specialist responded as if just remembering that she had ninja tools scattered all over the forest that needed to be resealed. After they had both finished retrieving their belongings they decided to go get something to eat because neither of them had eaten lunch.

The pair decided to eat in the restaurant that they were first introduced in because Tenten assured him that they made some of the best pork buns in town. When they got to the restaurant it was once again mostly empty because it was between peak hours, so the two of them were able to order and get their food quickly. After they had satisfied their appetites Kankuro spoke.

"Tomorrow is my last day in Konoha," he told her, "What do you say we do something that doesn't involve trying to kill each other?"

"Like what?" Tenten asked curiously.

"I don't know," he responded, "Just hang out I guess."

"You mean like a date?" she asked suspiciously.

"Call it what you want," the boy answered looking away.

"Sure," Tenten smiled mischievously, "but you've gotta come with no makeup on."

"Why?" he inquired, "What difference does that make?"

"If we're gonna be spending more time together I wanna know what you look like and…I'm curious," she responded.

"Ok, fine," he retorted, "then you _have _to wear makeup." Tenten blushed after hearing his request.

"Why would I do that?" she asked.

"I'm curious," he mimicked.

"Fine," she complied reluctantly. After that was settled they talked a little longer before paying their bill and leaving the restaurant. Just after they exited the restaurant Tenten thought she heard someone calling her name. She looked down the street to see Hinata jogging toward her.

"Tenten, Lady Tsunade summoned us to her office a while ago," the dark haired girl huffed a little out of breath. Tenten's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I guess I gotta go then," she said turning back to Kankuro, "See you tomorrow!" After saying her farewell she left with Hinata to head to Tsunade's office. While they walked Tenten wondered why Tsunade would summon her so suddenly but her train of thought strayed until she was thinking happily about the fact that she would be seeing Kankuro again tomorrow.


End file.
